Northern California

A strong pre-dawn earthquake on an obscure faultline jolted residents awake in communities 200 miles along the Northern California coast Monday, slightly injuring six people but causing only minor damage. The 6:55 a.m. EST temblor, the third in the San Francisco area in three days, registered 5.3 on the Richter scale. Scientists saw no special significance in the sudden activity. The quake swayed high-rise buildings, sent dishes crashing to the floor and slid furniture in communities 200 miles along the coast and 100 miles inland.

SAN FRANCISCO A Southern California native, Ricky Nolasco's career numbers at AT&T Park (4-0, 0.87) suggest he feels equally at home in the Northern California. A question Nolasco received before Thursday's series opener was how he'd feel about making it a semi-permanent residence. The non-waiver trade deadline still is about six weeks away, but the Giants and some other teams already have been loosely linked to Nolasco. According to an American League source that has checked in with the Marlins, they already have begun doing legwork on a Nolasco trade and multiple teams have expressed interest.

It seems these days everyone is speculating about how Justice Anthony M. Kennedy will approach the two same-sex marriage cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. But I haven't heard anyone wondering which side Antonin Scalia will be on. He has made his views on gay relationships painfully clear. In December, Scalia spoke at Princeton University, where I am a freshman, and I asked him about language he used in past decisions involving gay rights — language that I, as a gay man, found extraordinarily offensive.

"Neither rain, nor heat " nor does a misspelled name and incorrect house number keep the mail from arriving. I just wanted the U.S. Postal Service to know how much I appreciated their efforts in allowing my aunt's Christmas card to arrive at my mailbox. My aunt is deteriorating from Alzheimer's disease and lives in Northern California. Her card arrived folded inside out along with a five-page letter making almost no sense at all. I am in awe that the post office could deliver it, considering the incorrectness of the name and address.

The lights went out on several World Wide Web sites Friday when a major power outage hit Stanford University. The blackout sent ripples throughout the country because many Silicon Valley-area businesses hook up to the global communications network through Stanford's computer system. The batteries for the university's computer backup system weren't adequate, said Marisa Cigarroa, Stanford University's spokeswoman. The outage occurred at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and lasted until midnight. The system came up for a few hours, then went down again.

The move, as it has become known around Calder Race Course, came at the top of the stretch, near the conclusion of an otherwise forgettable 6-furlong claiming race two weeks ago. Ask Andy, a nice enough 3-year-old gelding, had been blocked behind traffic down the backstretch and on the turn. Suddenly, Gary Boulanger, who will ride in all four stakes races on today's Grand Slam I card, seemingly predicted an opening that was not yet there. And in that same moment, he darted through it with Ask Andy.

So much for the theory of horses for courses. A couple of shippers, who had never set foot at Calder, ran away with the Tropical Turf and My Charmer handicaps Saturday. Wild Promises, coming in from Northern California, where she had won four consecutive stakes, led just about every step of the way to capture the Grade 3 My Charmer for fillies and mares by a length. Spice Route, who had done most of his racing in Canada, took a different approach. He lagged well behind the early pace-setter, 62-1 A.P. Maggie, before launching his bid turning for home.

WEST PALM BEACH -- After finishing third in last year`s Senior Softball World Series, Copacabana, a men`s slow-pitch team based in Deerfield Beach, wanted better Sunday at Okeeheelee Park. Copacabana`s first five batters singled and all scored, leading the team to an 8-4 victory over Long Island`s Tobay Tigers, the defending 65-plus national champions. "That was a downer for them, and an upper for us," said Copacabana`s Sal Saul, of Delray Beach, who went 3 for 3 with two runs scored.

Dear Ann Landers: I hope you'll find my letter valuable as an example of how a teen's fight for independence can almost destroy a family. "Dora," our 17-year-old daughter, nearly caused my husband and me to end our 30-year marriage because of arguments about her. When Dora was in the seventh grade, she was kicked out of her accelerated classes because she refused to do the assignments. She said school was boring and didn't "prepare her for life." In the 10th grade, Dora decided she wanted to go to college like the rest of her new friends.

So much for the theory of horses for courses. A couple of shippers, who had never set foot at Calder, ran away with the Tropical Turf and My Charmer handicaps Saturday. Wild Promises, coming in from Northern California, where she had won four consecutive stakes, led just about every step of the way to capture the Grade 3 My Charmer for fillies and mares by a length. Spice Route, who had done most of his racing in Canada, took a different approach. He lagged well behind the early pace-setter, 62-1 A.P. Maggie, before launching his bid turning for home.

The largest mass murder/suicide of modern times has been reduced to a buzz phrase to describe people who unthinkingly swallow a party line: "They drank the Kool-Aid." Many of those who use this expression, especially those under 30, have no idea of its origin. American Experience makes the connection with Jonestown, a somber documentary and cautionary tale. On Nov. 19, 1978, 909 human beings, who had fled the United States to settle in a jungle compound in Guyana, drank the Kool-Aid -- or some similar beverage -- laced with lethal poison.

I write this at 37,000 feet above San Francisco. I've been teaching cooking classes for two days in Northern California, which is a win-win situation. I love teaching and, at the same time, I enjoy coming to California, where everyone is interested in food and fresh ingredients. I had an afternoon to explore restaurants and wineries, to discover recipes and meander Route 29, the wine route, which runs through the fertile Napa and Sonoma valleys. Each small town bustles with quaint little restaurants overflowing into the narrow streets.

Northern California is passionate in November, tentative and foggy, rainy and temperamental, making it best to avoid mountain roads after dark. So on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, when I found myself in Leggett around sunset, I decided to stay at the Eel River Redwoods Hostel rather than push on toward Fort Bragg in search of a traditional motel. The hostel resembled a low-rent summer camp, complete with log cabins and hiking trails scattered over its four or five rustic acres. There was a small office up front, attached to a roadside liquor bar. How bad could it be?

Q. My wife and I will be traveling to San Francisco for the first time this spring. As we will have just five days there, what do you think are the best things to do and see? We also would like to drive the Pacific Coast Highway, but wonder if it is a better drive north or south of San Francisco. -- M.A.F., Plantation A. Fisherman's Wharf, harbor cruises, Alcatraz, cable car rides, Golden Gate Park, ferry rides to Sausalito and Tiberon, Chinatown, wonderful food ... there is so much to do in San Francisco, there's never enough time.

"Neither rain, nor heat " nor does a misspelled name and incorrect house number keep the mail from arriving. I just wanted the U.S. Postal Service to know how much I appreciated their efforts in allowing my aunt's Christmas card to arrive at my mailbox. My aunt is deteriorating from Alzheimer's disease and lives in Northern California. Her card arrived folded inside out along with a five-page letter making almost no sense at all. I am in awe that the post office could deliver it, considering the incorrectness of the name and address.

SAN FRANCISCO A Southern California native, Ricky Nolasco's career numbers at AT&T Park (4-0, 0.87) suggest he feels equally at home in the Northern California. A question Nolasco received before Thursday's series opener was how he'd feel about making it a semi-permanent residence. The non-waiver trade deadline still is about six weeks away, but the Giants and some other teams already have been loosely linked to Nolasco. According to an American League source that has checked in with the Marlins, they already have begun doing legwork on a Nolasco trade and multiple teams have expressed interest.

The largest mass murder/suicide of modern times has been reduced to a buzz phrase to describe people who unthinkingly swallow a party line: "They drank the Kool-Aid." Many of those who use this expression, especially those under 30, have no idea of its origin. American Experience makes the connection with Jonestown, a somber documentary and cautionary tale. On Nov. 19, 1978, 909 human beings, who had fled the United States to settle in a jungle compound in Guyana, drank the Kool-Aid -- or some similar beverage -- laced with lethal poison.

GARCIA: An American Life. Blair Jackson. Viking. $34.95. 498 pp. Before he died, on Aug. 9, 1995, Jerry Garcia rarely spoke in public. He was never comfortable with the "leader of the band" role and the fascist potential it automatically bestowed on him. Onstage with the Grateful Dead, he sometimes managed a warm "thanks," but most of his direct communication with fans came through his guitar playing. His goal was to provide cosmic accompaniment, what lyricist Robert Hunter called "a smile on empty space."

The lights went out on several World Wide Web sites Friday when a major power outage hit Stanford University. The blackout sent ripples throughout the country because many Silicon Valley-area businesses hook up to the global communications network through Stanford's computer system. The batteries for the university's computer backup system weren't adequate, said Marisa Cigarroa, Stanford University's spokeswoman. The outage occurred at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and lasted until midnight. The system came up for a few hours, then went down again.